Written question asked by Claire Ward (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 November 2004. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Thursday, 11 November 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when funding for community support officers in Watford will end; and what discussions he has had with (a) the police and (b) local authorities on (i) the requirement and (ii) the funding for these officers. - Including figures.

Answer: Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when funding for community support officers in Watford will end; and what discussions he has had with (a) the police and (b) local authorities on (i) the requirement and (ii) the funding for these officers. [196577] Ms Blears: We have notified forces that Home Office funding for community support officer (CSO) posts allocated under the three CSO funding rounds since 2002 is available until the end of March 2008. Out target is to have 24,000 CSOs in place by 2008. We have allocated £50 million under the first round of the Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) to recruit new CSOs before the end of March 2005 and to support their salary and related costs in 2005-06. Forces will be notified of their allocations shortly. Funding under this round of the NPF will also continue to be available until the end of March 2008. Details of further rounds of the NPF will be announced next year. Decisions on funding arrangements for CSOs after 2008 will be made in the context of the next spending review. The deployment of CSOs is an operational decision for chief officers.

Secondary information